My top 3 favorite concept albums

3. Abigail by King Diamond

It is an amazing story of sheer evil! This is an album that you must take the time to really listen to and read every lyric. It is a tail of Miriam Natias and Jonathan La'Fey, who move into an old mansion that La'Fey inherited. before arriving to the mansion the couple is warned not to go into the house because of the evil that dwells in it. The evil in the house is Abigail Le'Fay who was the second coming of the devil who was stillborn on July 7th 1777. Abigail's spirit dwells in the house waiting for the chance to become born once again and when  Miriam Natias and Jonathan La'Fey enter the house her      chance to become born becomes a reality. 

The album is not only an amazing story but also has amzing music to accompany it. King Diamonds voice may not be easy to get into but if you can look past the high pitches of his voice you may be blown away by the lyrics and the music.

2. Truthless Heroes by Project 86

This is an album that you do not need to take time to really pay attention to. I am not saying the album is simplistic in anyway I am saying that you can listen to the songs individually and fully understand what the song is talking about. The album  takes you through the one individuals life and his attempts to gratify himself and fill his deepest needs as a person through fame, fortune, lust, even God. The story has a tragic ending because the main character can never feel that void in his life.

Album Highlight: S.M.C. (Sunday Mass Crusade) Project 86 is a christian band that is not afraid to say anything negative about "the church" this song talks about how the good spirit of God does not exist in some churches anymore because of the individuals that run things and how they are only looking to make a dollar off of God, and how that can push many people away that who may need some type of guidance.

1. Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them? by Murder By Death

This album has the feel of old ghost stories told around the camp fire. The album takes place in a small town in Mexico. After a night of heavy drinking The Devil is in his death bed surrounded by the locals who are saving his blood which is oil so they can sell it. The Devil becomes angry and wages war on the locals. At first the locals do not care because The Devil is dying but when they realize that The Devils threats were not empty ones they become terrified and lose all hope. The climax of the story is at the end (as it should be) when the devil comes into there homes and the locals no longer except defeat and fight back. There is no certain ending to this story the singer does not state who wins the war. He leaves it up to the listener to create their own ending.

The album has all the makings of a great horror story it speaks about God, The Devil, and Zombies. 

Album Highlight: The Music, The Music, The Music

Hostgator promo

My Baby and Music

This is my princess her name is Eliot Marie

My little girl is going to be surrounded by music. While she sits in her mothers belly she can already reognize hear the rhythm and tempo of her mommy's heart. By the baby's expression people have found that babies enjoy music that is in a similar tempo of their mothers heart.

Infants recognize the melody of a song long before they understand the words.  Babies will try to mimic sounds and start moving to music as soon as it is possible for them to do so. Quiet, background music can be soothing for babies, especially at sleep time which is why it is easier for a baby to fall asleep while you  are singing to them, 

I cant wait to see my baby and sing to her until she falls asleep in my hands, and as she gets older i want her to watch cartoons that involve music like Looney Tunes. Looney Tunes was originally developed to promote music in 1929. The theme music for Looney Tunes was "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin. Hopefully she takes after her daddy and falls in love with The Peanuts Gang. I would love for her to become familliar with the Jazz music of Vincent Guaraldi. 

Music is helpful in all areas of human development: intellectual, social and emotional, motor, language, and literacy. It helps the body and the mind work together. Children can learn the sounds and meanings of words through music it can also help strengthen memory skills. I think everyone in the world would of had a more difficult time remembering something as simple as the alphabet without learning The Alphabet Song. The Alphabet Song was first copyrighted in 1835 by the Boston-based music publisher Charles Bradlee.

"I buy it if I like the album cover"

"I do a lot of curiosity buying; I buy it if I like the album cover, I buy it if I like the name of the band, anything that sparks my imagination. I still like to go to record stores, I like to just wander around and I'll buy whatever catches my attention." - Bruce Springsteen

London Calling (1979) The Clash

Design by Ray Lowrie and Pennie Smith

Designer Ray Lowry acknowledge the design’s inspiration when he said, “It was intended as a genuine homage to the original unknown genius who created Elvis Presley’s first rock ‘n’ roll record.”

As for the photo, Simonon said, “The show had gone quite well that night, but for me, inside, it just wasn’t working well, so I took it out on the bass. If I’d been really smart I would have got the spare bass out, as it wasn’t as good as the one I smashed up. When I look at it now I wish I’d lifted my face up a bit more.”

Licensed to Ill (1986)

Beastie Boys
Design by Steve Byram and World B. Omes

Producer Rick Rubin said the idea came from reading about Led Zeppelin’s luxurious private jet. “The Beastie Boys were just a bunch of little guys and I wanted us to have a Beastie Boys’ jet. I wanted to embrace and somehow distinguish, in a sarcastic way, the larger-than-life rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, the excesses and the destruction.”

Collage artist World B. Omes assembled the Beastie Boys jet from photographic elements (American Airlines later complained that it looked like one of theirs), then drew over and hand-colored it with water soluble crayons.

Trivia: The plane’s identification number on the tail – 3MTA3 – reads “Eat Me” if you hold the cover up to a mirror.

Nevermind (1991)

Nirvana
Design by Robert Fisher and Kirk Weddle

“I showed Kurt the baby picture,” designer Robert Fisher said, “and he liked it but felt it needed something more. We threw all kinds of ideas around and Kurt jokingly suggested a fish hook. We spent the day thinking of all the things you could put on a fish hook. Although Kurt never gave me a rational for the design, I must assume that the naked baby symbolized his own innocence, the water an alien environment and the hook and dollar bill his creative life entering into the corporate world of rock music.”

"I would have slit my wrists if it wasn't for rock'n'roll!"

What does it take for a song to change your life? Have you ever thought about that?

I always hear people say "That song cganged my life" or "that song saved my life" you will usually hear those quotes in music documentaries, movies about music, or a hour special on "the 90's" brought to you by VH1. I have compiled my own little list of Songs that made me think differently about my life, the world and music in general.


1. Malleus Maleficarum by A.F.I

"My skin is singed but it heals my heart
and with glowing pride I'll wear my scars.
I'm honoured by your hatred."

When I first hear Davey Scream that verse i had to stop what i was doing so i could skip back to the beginning of that song. It was a classic case of the "nobody understands me" teenage angst that really made me feel like Davey Havok wrote that song about my personal feelings. "Honored by your hatred!" YOU'RE ARE DAMN RIGHT! You hate me because i am not like you and it feels good because i don't want to be like you. From that day forward I knew I wasn't the only person that felt that way.

2. Radio Radio by Elvis Costello

"You either shut up or get cut up, they don't wanna hear about it
It's only inches on the reel-to-reel
And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools
Tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel"

I first heard of Elvis Costello on a show on MTV called All Things Rock hosted by Benji and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte. I was in desperate need of listening to something new something that all my friends didn't know about. Everybody should have known about Elvis Costello but we didn't we were 14 and the only music that existed in our mind was bands that were big at the time bands like New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, and MXPX (I love all of those bands to this day)but here i was listening to an amazing artist that influenced the bands that i currently was listening to on a daily basis. I felt like someone had just let me in on a secret and that secret was so juicey that i had to let all my friends know. I remember picking up three albums by Elvis Costello soon after i heard him for the first time those albums were My Aim Is True, Brutal Youth, and This Years Model.

3.For Your Love by The Yardbirds

The Lyrics in that song did not speak to me and I couldnt even say if I understood what they were talking about all i knew was this band is good this band was everything that Rock'n'Roll should be. I finally understood the amazing talent of Eric Clapton. In my eyes Rock'n'Roll is the Yardbirds everything else is a shitty rip-off. Led Zepplin who the fuck are they? nothing good in my eyes because The Yardbirds were the original Led Zepplin before the music became watered down. Thw day I heard The Yardbirds was the day i became an ass-hole about music because i felt i knew more than anyone else. If anyone wanted to talk about great music I would just talk about how much better The Yardbirds were compared to their shitty "Rock'n'Roll heroes"

In 1977 Elvis Costello Performed on SNL. Elvis Costello was asked to not perform "Radio Radio" On the show because NBC producers did not like its obviously radio radio industry-critical lyrics. Elvis Costello Promised to not perform "Radio Radio" to NBC producers but then decided he wanted to play the song during the live recording. Elvis Costello was one of only 3 artist to have there ban from SNL lifted 12 years later in 1989 In 1999 Elvis Costello performed with The Beastie Boys on SNL

Rumplestiltzkin

Rumplestiltzkin was always my favorite story from The Brothers Grimm.



The name Rumpelstilzchen in German means literally "little rattle stilt".  A rumpelstilt or rumpelstilz was the name of a type of goblin that makes noises by rattling posts and rapping on planks. The meaning is similar to rumpelgeist ("rattle ghost") a mischievous spirit that clatters and moves household objects.

Rumplestilzkin was a story that gave me a creepy feeling inside. It was a feeling that no horror movie could ever give me as i grew older. In my mind I believed Rumplestiltzkin was a historical character that because of his evilness died a horrible death. Whenever i heard about "The Devil" or "Demons" I always felt they had some connection  with Rumplestiltzkin. even to this day is i sit and really dwell upon the story those uneasy feelings come back to me. Maybe it is because hearing the story puts me back into a childlike state of mind where my imagination runs wild and my eyes begin to play tricks on me and that old fear begins to feel real again. 


The Brothers Grimm fairy-tales are stories that i will share with my children when they are growing up. I feel like my generation will be last generation to hear those great stories. Now that a TV and Computers exist in every household it seems nobody tells their children stories anymore. It is easier for a parent to turn on the TV in their child's room and forget about them for the rest of the night and because of that children's imaginations are not as strong as they used to be. Everything is visual now and it leaves little room for your imagination to create its own villains and heroes. I am going to do my best to read to my kid every night and i hope he/she does the same with their kids when they are parents. It would be a shame to never share those stories again. 

“Thou Shalt Not is soon forgotten, but Once Upon a Time is forever.” 

― Philip Pullman

I am going to be a daddy

This is amazing! I have been nervous and i have been wishing and hoping everything goes well at everyone of my wife's doctor appointments.

She is now 11 weeks and 1 day and according to the doctor the risk has dropped dramatically. Now i feel happy announcing it to the world. We heard the heartbeat today and it finally feels official.

I want to go out and buy every parenting book for dad's. I am nervous about being a dad. I hope i will be a good and fun dad. I want to teach my kid to be happy and how to enjoy all the little things in this world. I imagine my kid being like Bobby from "Bobby's world" He/She will go on these amazing adventures in his/her head and break out into song and dance in the most oddest of times.

I had a crazy imagination when i was little and my mom discouraged it. For some reason she thought i was talking to "evil spirits" when i talked to my imaginary friends and because of that i want to encourage my kid to have imaginary friends and be as creative as possible.

NOW IT IS TIME FOR ME TO BE A DAD AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER 

I Know It's Only Rock'n'Roll But I Like It

I really want to take the time to examine music and Christianity at this time. The reason for this is because Christianity has played a major role in my personal feelings towards music. I was taught that music had a huge negative influence on youth. This is something that people hear all the time in the media, in church, in school, and at home. I do believe that some musicians and bands take their power (influence) too far but the majority of these people are just expressing themselves through song. We all have negative feelings, so why can’t people write about them. Sometimes it feels good to hear that people have the same feelings as you. It can be helpful. You can say to someone that you are so angry that you would like to kill someone but deep down inside you know you can’t and the people that are capable of killing someone are not going to get pushed over the edge because of someones lyrics.

Example: Charles Manson.

Charles Manson was influenced by both The Beatles and the book of Revelation (last book of The New Testament) Manson believed that the Beatles were prophets that were speaking to him through The White Album. The Beatles have a song named “Revolution no. 9” Charlie linked that song with Revelation 9

Revelation 9:13

13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

Charlie believed the he was the “6th angel” who was going to sound the trumpet and release “the four angels” who would destroy the black people on earth. Charlie’s name for this event was “Helter Skelter”

I would like to think that people would be smart enough to realize that Charles Manson had deeper problems that went beyond Rock ‘n’ Roll. Unfortunately there are people in the world that believe Rock ‘n’ Roll was to blame for the massacres that Charlie was responsible for.

Rock ‘n’ Roll has always been about rebellion

Rebellion:  resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition.

One thing that keeps Christianity alive is “tradition” when people challenge Christian tradition, Christians become very defensive. In the past people have been killed because they tried to change religious tradition. Even Jesus Christ was crucified for his rebellion, so when people challenge others to think differently they are put in the crosshairs of the church, Christians will do anything in their power to make sure you do not stray away from biblical teachings.

Deuteronomy 18

“ 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

The Bible itself tells you to put someone to death if they speak differently of the bible. Now I hope that you understand that Christians will stop at nothing to be damn sure that you believe just as they do.

Frank Zappa

“I don't think there's a problem. First of all, I don't think music turns people into social liabilities. Because you hear a lyric -- there's no medical proof that a person hearing a lyric is going to act out the lyric. There's also no medical proof that if you hear any collection of vowels and consonants, that the hearing of that collection is going to send you to Hell.”

Michael Greene

Music is a magical gift we must nourish and cultivate in our children, especially now as scientific evidence proves that an education in the arts makes better math and science students, enhances spatial intelligence in newborns, and let's not forget that the arts are a compelling solution to teen violence, certainly not the cause of it!

Music has an unbelievable effect on people. It is a fact that Music and sounds can alter moods. Different rhythms and sounds can make you feel good, angry, sad, etc. Does this mean that I believe that everyone who says “rock ‘n’ roll is evil” is justified?…  NO! If you would like to say that because of the negative affect that music has had on a small percentage of youth in the world that I should now keep others from listening to music. You should take a deep hard look into how religion affects people. I am more likely to keep a bible away from a child then keep music away from a child.

Many People will say “How can you say such a thing” and I will reply with a long list of people who have murdered in the name of God and who have done it because the bible says so.